Seoul Cyberpunk Story-Chapter 91: Dominic (3)

The moment I descended onto the Titan Tech Eastern Branch rooftop via shadow—

the scene that unfolded before my eyes was pure volatility.

A rooftop steeped in a strange atmosphere, mixed with faint moonlight and the glow of neon city lights.

On one side stood a blonde woman, wearing a desperate expression—

and on her shoulder, that same familiar white bird I’d once seen in the Erosion Domain lowered its head toward me.

And as if to mock all the tension in the air,

the two pizza boxes sitting in the middle of the rooftop were radiating the most delicious aroma.

That mouthwatering scent made me salivate instinctively.

But despite the peaceful smell of pizza,

the situation was anything but peaceful.

Men clad in black combat gear were aiming rifles at the blonde woman.

Their fingers squeezed the triggers—

just as I finished processing what was going on.

Muzzle flashes bloomed. Bullets screamed toward the woman.

I instinctively lashed out with my shadow.

The darkness rising at my feet spread across the rooftop like a tide—

wriggling like a living creature, it wrapped around the bullets mid-flight and swallowed them whole.

Like sinking into a sticky swamp,

the bullets lost all momentum and vanished into the shadows without a trace.

“!”

The shooters gasped in shock, unable to believe what they were seeing.

They shouted frantically at their AR interfaces.

“Priority fugitive A has appeared!”

“Alert HQ! Requesting immediate backup!”

Even as they yelled, they moved like the trained soldiers they were—

reforming their formation and raising their rifles at me once more.

Bullets poured through the air.

But none of them posed the slightest threat to me.

‘I figured Titan Tech would’ve mass-produced prototypes like Hexa Core Armory did... Guess not?’

I thought idly, then gestured toward the brave soldiers.

The shadows I had spread surged like a massive wave,

engulfing them in an instant—

and with a few short screams,

they were completely devoured into the belly of a Mosasaurus.

All that remained where they’d stood was a smooth, obsidian-like shadow on the ground.

The chaos vanished as quickly as it had come.

I flopped down onto the rooftop without ceremony.

Then reached toward the pizza.

“Hand over the pizza.”

The blonde woman still looked stunned, frozen in shock, staring at me blankly.

But at my prompting, she hurriedly opened one of the boxes and handed it to me.

‘?!’

The pizza that emerged was completely golden.

From the dough to the toppings—even the cheese—

everything was meticulously wrapped in edible gold foil.

It looked like something gift-wrapped in wealth.

A pizza likely sold in the East—where extravagance and opulence were everything.

The Children, who had crept up beside me without me noticing,

were visibly stimulated by the golden pizza.

They dipped their palms in the gold coating and started smearing it on one another.

[Gold color!]

[Gold!]

Their gold-smearing game even spread to Whitey, who had been sitting calmly beside the woman—

and soon both the Children and the bird were gleaming gold.

‘They’re having fun...’

While they played, small dinosaurs began crawling out of the shadows behind me.

“Kyuuu!”

Led by Agu,

the dinosaurs slithered into the building through the torn-open rooftop door.

Like a black river—endless and fluid.

They were probably heading in to shut down the fighting raging inside Titan Tech.

Watching them go, I picked up a slice of the gold-gold pizza and took a bite.

The taste was...

not bad. Slightly better than average.

Strange, though.

It was tasty—but considering the price tag, it left something to be desired.

The ingredients were clearly fresh and expensive, but it felt like

whoever made it had focused too much on making a luxury pizza—and ruined the flavor balance.

Was this what medieval meat dishes buried in piles of pepper tasted like?

Still, it was edible.

As I slowly savored the pizza,

the blonde woman approached me cautiously and spoke.

“My name is Riley. And this little one... is Whitey.”

At her words, the now golden-white bird on her shoulder gave me a polite little bow.

‘?’

There was something weirdly formal about the golden-Whitey.

It made me feel... off.

“I summoned you because I need to ask a favor.”

Riley’s voice trembled faintly.

But her face didn’t carry the kind of desperation most people showed when calling on the Pizza Demon.

Her request was simple—but dangerous.

“Please... save Director Dominic.”

Riley’s request: to rescue Dominic Krylov, Titan Tech’s Director of Development.

She explained that the aircraft he’d been aboard had come under attack,

and that the other factions within Titan Tech were not trying to save him—

they were actively trying to get rid of him.

It was a high-risk situation just from hearing about it.

Normally, a corporate director drew power from the strength of their company.

But here... it sounded like the company had already turned its back on him.

“Alright. I’ll help.”

I accepted the job after listening to her explanation.

Riley may have been a corp type,

but anyone who walked around with someone like Whitey—who gave off the same vibe as the Children—couldn’t be all bad.

****

Titan Tech’s high-priority aircraft was spiraling out of control—

plunging straight into Babel’s abandoned industrial district.

Ravaged by missile strikes, the aircraft spewed black smoke in thick clouds

as its altitude dropped fast.

A full-on crash was inevitable.

Gray buildings blurred past the windows at terrifying speed.

Impact with the ground was just seconds away.

KRRRRRAAAANG!

With an earth-shaking crash,

the aircraft tore through the roof of a defunct factory and smashed inside.

Steel frames crumpled like paper,

dust and debris exploding outward like a sandstorm.

Even a heavily enhanced human, rebuilt entirely with bone and skin implants,

would’ve struggled to survive an impact that brutal.

The mangled energy core of the aircraft poured out blistering heat, hot enough to melt steel.

Fires roared outward, devouring everything they touched.

Suffocating smoke billowed across the ruins.

But from that hellish wreckage,

two figures emerged—barely harmed.

Dominic Krylov and his aide, Beren Hoffman.

They were protected by physical shadows—

real ones—that had absorbed the brunt of the impact.

Titan Tech’s prototype was a miracle of technology.

Its protection against physical trauma was nearly flawless—

a product of cutting-edge science that bordered on magic.

“Shit. An ambush on the aircraft... Didn’t see that one coming.”

Dominic cursed as he pushed wreckage off his shoulder.

Then he quickly made his way out of the ruined factory.

After crashing this hard,

he had to move—fast.

Beren followed in silence, scanning their surroundings with caution.

The area around the factory was dark... and foreboding.

Abandoned factory structures loomed all around like monsters, casting grotesque shadows,

and the floor was thick with layers of dust and some unknown slick oil.

And within the tangled darkness of the industrial complex,

Dominic could feel it—

the movements of countless presences, writhing as they closed in.

They were unidentified mercenaries, heavily armed.

Most likely an ambush unit that had been lying in wait to kill him...

“Director, there are too many of them.”

Beren warned in a low voice.

Dominic clicked his tongue.

He knew perfectly well that rabble like that wouldn’t be able to breach the shadow shield of his prototype implants—

and yet, a vague discomfort lingered in his chest.

A creeping feeling, like something far worse was hiding in the dark.

Dominic made the call to avoid confrontation as much as possible—

to find a secure position and analyze the situation in detail.

With that, he cloaked himself in shadow,

and began moving through the factory zone as silently as he could.

His ability to manipulate shadows made him perfectly suited for infiltration like this.

As he crept through the dark alleys, Dominic’s mind kept returning to the ambush.

Something didn’t add up.

Everything had gone too perfectly.

In the chaos of the attack, he hadn’t had time to think—

but now, with a moment to breathe, the pieces started to fit.

Judging by the guided trajectory of the missiles,

the attackers had known the evasion patterns of Titan Tech’s high-priority aircraft—patterns updated daily.

That kind of intel wasn’t something an outside mercenary group could easily acquire.

Which meant...

someone inside Titan Tech had betrayed him.

On top of that, the ambushers had known his precise route of movement.

In other words, the culprit wasn’t just an insider—

they were someone with access to Dominic’s schedule.

Lately, Dominic had been hiding his movements with extreme caution,

especially sensing the shift in company atmosphere.

He hadn’t even disclosed his travel plans to the Titan Tech CEO.

The only people who knew were his personal aide... and a handful of top-tier staff.

So then—

who had access to Dominic’s hidden movements,

and clearance to the highest levels of Titan Tech’s classified data?

Only one person fit those conditions.

Just one.

“...”

Dominic came to a sudden halt.

Following behind like a shadow, Beren also stopped.

“Beren.”

Dominic’s voice was low and calm—

but within it was sorrow.

And betrayal.

“...Why did you do it?”

Beren said nothing.

He simply bowed his head in silence.

There was no emotion on his face. Nothing at all.

The silence between them hung heavy, suffocating.

It was Beren who broke it.

“I’m sorry, Director.”

His voice was steady, same as always.

And as he spoke, he reached into his coat and pulled something out.

A small device, pulsing with ominous red light.

“That’s...!”

Dominic’s eyes widened in shock.

Because what Beren had drawn wasn’t just a bomb.

It was a Corrosion Bomb—a weapon that had once killed wraiths.

A relic from the Babel era, considered the nuclear option of modern times.

Just as no one—not even the megacorps—could erase a Corrosion Domain...

There existed no defense system,

no tech, not even Titan Tech’s prototypes,

that could withstand the absolute death radiated by this bomb.

The moment Beren pressed the detonation switch without hesitation—

time slowed for Dominic, stretched into a cold, endless moment before death.

The shadow surrounding him surged upward as if trying to protect him.

Beren’s face remained calm, still holding the button—

as the Corrosion Domain swallowed him whole.

The darkness devoured Beren first—

and then, as if it had always been there, the black sphere extended toward Dominic,

reaching right up to his face.

And just before it could consume him—

A streak of blue light cut through space like lightning.

“!”

A small girl launched herself into Dominic’s chest at impossible ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) speed,

knocking him backward like a speeding train.

She sent him flying far faster than the Corrosion Bomb could spread.

But she herself—

wasn’t fast enough to escape.

As if she had been standing in Dominic’s place all along,

she was sucked into the heart of the blackened, corrupted blast.

“Gaaahh!”

Her scream echoed out,

her face twisted in sorrow—so deeply pained it seemed unbearable.

The one being consumed by the Corrosion Bomb—

was none other than the 100-million-credit bounty target,

the mercenary known as the Pizza Demon, A.